Conor Sheehan
Ceist:735. Deputy Conor Sheehan asked the Minister for Health whether demand modelling for elective treatment centres for Limerick will be carried out; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [27976/26]
Amharc ar fhreagraTuesday, 21 April 2026
Ceisteanna (735)
Freagraí scríofa
The Government is fully committed to increasing elective-only day-case capacity through the Elective Ambulatory Care Programme. This is being delivered in two phases: a national network of Surgical Hubs in the first instance to meet medium-term demand and capacity, and then a national network of Elective Treatment Centres, also known as Elective Hospitals, to be located in Galway, Cork and Dublin. These new ‘elective-only’ facilities are for day-case patients, they are not for acute or emergency care. Significant international evidence supports the separation of scheduled (elective) and non-scheduled (emergency) care, leading to improved care for all patients.
Two Surgical Hubs are already operational, at the Reeves Centre in Tallaght and Mount Carmel Hub in South Dublin. A further five hubs are expected to open this year in Limerick, Swords, Galway, Cork and Waterford. Plans are also in development for Surgical Hubs in Letterkenny and Sligo.
The Limerick Surgical Hub - located at the former Scoil Carmel site on O’Connell Avenue in Limerick City - will significantly increase theatre capacity in the region. The complex will have four operating theatres and two procedure rooms, as well as additional consultation and assessment rooms, recovery bays and functional support space. Operating as a satellite of University Hospital Limerick (UHL), the Hub will improve access to day surgery in multiple surgical specialties for patients across the Mid-West. The Limerick Surgical Hub will treat large numbers of routine day case patients, freeing up hospital capacity for more complex procedures and helping people get surgery sooner. Once fully operational the Hub will be expected to deliver additional annual activity of circa 8,000 day case procedures, 5,700 minor ops procedures and approximately 18,500 Outpatient Department (OPD) appointments.
Alongside delivery of the Surgical Hubs, planning is underway through the Elective Care Programme for the new national Elective Treatment Centres. These are being developed to provide capacity to sufficiently meet the country’s longer-term elective care capacity needs. Over the course of NDP 2026-2030, plans for the Elective Treatment Centres will be progressed through detailed design and statutory planning, with the ambition to progress these to get construction underway. Following detailed design, the HSE’s objective is to submit planning applications for both Cork and Galway in mid-2026, with construction to follow in due course.
These new facilities will not be regional-only, but rather as a comprehensive national network, with the new Surgical Hubs and with the Elective Treatment Centres in Cork, Galway and Dublin providing national coverage and enabling delivery of care for all patients. The locations were chosen to allow for new facilities of a size and scale to implement a programme that will tackle waiting times and future health needs on a national basis. The Government is clear that everyone across the country should have access to sufficient and appropriate elective surgical capacity, not just those living in a particular catchment area. Geography will therefore not be a barrier; instead, doctors and consultants will be able to refer on the basis of patient need. This will help to reduce waiting times for elective procedures and ultimately lead to a more efficient and responsive system for all.